As a consequence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, social contact among people has undergone significant changes. To slow the spread of the virus, social distancing measures, such as isolation and the maintenance of distance between individuals, which includes changing the manner in which people greet each other, are in place, demonstrating responsible health practices. The lack of physical contact with other human beings is a major challenge during this highly contagious pandemic. To protect vulnerable people, hospitals have discontinued all visitations; […]

Dear Editor, We read with interest the article by Sun et al. concerning the reduction of inflammation with therapeutic hypothermia in acute ischemic stroke (). In this study, the authors demonstrated the improvement of inflammatory biomarkers after hypothermia treatment in both animal cerebral infarct models and patients with ischemic stroke. […]

TRAINED INNATE IMMUNITY AND COVID-19 When we get sick, our body’s first line of defense, the immune cells, responds and stores a memory of the pathogen; this is called immunological memory (). Two types of functionally distinct memories have been described, i.e., innate memory (non-specific) and acquired memory (specific). There are two ways by which T and B cells form an acquired immunological memory. The first is based on genetic mechanisms that involve the recombination of membrane receptor genes (TCR) […]

CARE IN DONOR SELECTION AND TISSUE PROCESSING Analysis of an individual’s medical history is essential when selecting tissue donors. In this regard, during the commencement stage of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission, we included symptoms of suspected COVID-19 such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and/or previous contact with confirmed cases as criteria for refusal. Notably, the Central de Transplantes Regional de São Paulo began collecting nasal swabs and testing every organ donor and tissue donor for COVID-19 using RT-PCR. Taken together, obtaining […]

To the Editor, The whole world is struggling because of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and it has already triggered a series of crises. Patients with comorbidities are highly susceptible to infection and thus have a poor prognosis. Cancer patients have been heavily impacted by the onset of this pandemic. A few recent studies on cancer patients have shown that they are at an increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Furthermore, infected patients were found to have an increased […]

Breath tests are simple, noninvasive alternatives, which are considered harmless for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), lactose intolerance (), and inflammatory bowel disease (). In Brazil, the acquisition of 13C-urea from abroad is challenging; however, with the support of the Division of Pharmacy, 13C-urea breath tests were routinely performed in clinical practice (). Patients using anticoagulant drugs, with low platelets count, cardiac impairment that contraindicates endoscopy, or those who did not want […]

Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 may remain viable in the environment for up to 72 hours (). Besides, an infected respiratory droplet can spread viral loads in the environment up to 2 meters from where it is generated through coughing, sneezing, or speaking. In this manner, COVID-19 is acquired either by inhaling droplets or touching a contaminated surface and then touching the nose, mouth, or eyes. An infected patient usually transmits the disease for an average period of 7 days […]

With the prospect of an increasing number of COVID-19 cases and with the city of Sao Paulo being the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, Hospital das Clinicas of the Faculdade de Medicina of the Universidade de Sao Paulo (HCFMUSP) initiated an action plan to designate the largest of its eight institutes to the treatment of the disease. With the progressive increase in the number of attended cases, at the end of March 2020, the 900 beds of HCFMUSP […]

Some settings were established: After 30 days of activities, the Central Institute have attended to a cumulative number of 1,194 cases. The thoracic surgery team was called to attend to 62 cases. Out of these, 41 patients (66%) had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, and 21 patients were suspected of COVID-19 and were awaiting testing. Nineteen patients (30%) did not need additional procedures. The most common procedures (n=43) included tracheostomy (n=18), and thoracic drainage (n=13). Other procedures were minor interventions, […]

Purpose We investigated the incidence of dysphagia, its time course, and its association with clinically relevant outcomes in extubated critically ill patients with COVID-19. Our results were compared to those in our database system for non-COVID-19 patients who were also subjected to prolonged orotracheal intubation. […]

Given the latest updates in scientific publications about the impact of COVID-19 on oral health, such as the role of salivary glands as potential reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2 (), the appearance of possible oral vesiculobullous lesions (), and the presence maculopapular manifestations in suspected and confirmed cases (), we aimed to emphasize the inexorable need for close monitoring by a dentist specialized in oral medicine in such COVID-19 patients. Their skill and accuracy in diagnosing mouth diseases could contribute to a […]

Since the report of the first patient in Brazil with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in São Paulo city, on February 26, 2020, there have been concerns about COVID-19 in select patient populations, mainly solid organ transplanted patients, who are normally maintained in an immunosuppressed state to avoid organ rejection. Despite the universal knowledge that children and adolescents with COVID-19 have milder clinical manifestations than other groups of patients (such as those >60 years of age) (), we have always dedicated […]

To the editor, There have been more than 40,000 reported cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brazil until May 8, 2020. Recurrent testing among health care professionals is the key step to be undertaken by hospitals, as completely asymptomatic infection might occur among these professionals. Hospital das Clinicas is the main hospital dedicated to COVID-19 response in the city of Sao Paulo, with 224 intensive care unit beds. […]

The repercussions of infection by the new coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pregnant women and newborns are still not well known, with little scientific evidence about their manifestation in the mother-child binomial. Vertical transmission seems possible but has not been documented (,). Furthermore, the virus has not been detected in human milk, enabling breastfeeding with protection or the use of expressed milk from the mother (-). Several studies (,-) published to date suggest the possibility of […]

The rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide warrants a huge transformation in the health assistance system and patient care. Most countries affected by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are in lockdown, with restrictions on the movement of people and in services to prevent rapid transmission that may consequently lead to a health system collapse. The disease is known to cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), especially in the elderly population and in patients with comorbidities. Patients with chronic liver diseases can […]